Honest Abe

George's House

   Sunrise at Mt. Vernon    

It has been many years since I stood on the porch of Mt. Vernon as a youth.  I very distinctly remember standing there looking out onto the Potamac River.  Even then with my very vivid imagination, I never dreamed of being anchored on my boat in front of George's house.

Bald Eagle

     The Mattawoman Creek, just off of the Potomac River, has been a great location for viewing the Bald Eagle.

(Click on any image to see the enlargement)

JELLO

     I am sure by now that everyone has come to the same conclusion; especially those who have a working knowledge of geography, that we are headed for our nation's capital.  Our slow boat has been weaving in and out of ever side creek on the Maryland shore of the Potomac River from the Chesapeake Bay to our current location on Mattawoman Creek.  We have slip reservations at the Gangplank Marina in Washington, DC for August 1st.  Departing from our normal anchor out lifestyle, we may be tied to a dock for up to 7 days.  Once we are in the marina, our first priority is engine room maintenance.  Then we are off to the grocery store once again to reprovision the boat.  The rest of our time on land will be spent playing the role of tourist.  Sure hope Mother Nature cooperates and turns down the burners from high heat!  For our adventures on land, we plan to use Rick's (M/V Broulee) approach to plans and anything organized - "JELLO"! 

Sizzlin' Hot Summer

        Late afternoon thunderstorm at Breton Bay.

 

     Unofficially, the start of summer is Memorial Day, and ever since that time we have been tortured with high temps and humidity.  Big Run has been very fortunate ( or not! ) to have the severe storms skirt around her location every time a cool front passes through.  It's been one sizzlin' hot summer!

S/V Dove

    This is S/V Dove berthed at historic St. Mary's City, MD.  This is a replica of the ship that sailed up the St Mary's river in 1634 with the S/V Ark to establish the first settlement in Maryland.  She is 65 feet long with a 17' beam, weighs 25 ton and had a cargo capacity of 40 tons.  She was crewed by 7, although today they use a crew of 9.

Although it's built like a tank, this is the dinghy for the S/V Dove

State House

     Today was an educational day for us as we did a walking tour of the historical settlement of St. Mary's City.  Founded in 1634, St Mary's City served as the first capitol of Maryland.  Below are photos of the State House.

  

  State House as seen from the back.

The Honorable and Distinguished Chair Lady presiding over the house floor.

Meeting room on second floor.

 

Cool And Comfortable

  Point No Point Lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay

   It wasn't barnacles growing on the anchor rode, but there was some kind of grass or something growing on the chain.  It had been 11 days since we dropped anchor, and today was the day to move on.  Our plan was to go to the Patuxent  (Pat) River and anchor overnight at Mill Creek  We did have a contingency plan if we made good time getting to the Pat River, we would push on to the Potomac River.  We arrived at the Pat River and decided to make the run to the Potomac and anchor in Smith Creek.  We had anchored in Smith Creek back in October 2010 while we waited out a blow.  The last time we were here, we had anchored on the west side.  However, there was a great private and secluded hole on the east side of the creek.  The east anchorage had enough room for one boat.  We had very slowly sounded our way in watching the depth sounder register 7 feet.  Big Run needs 4.5 feet.  Sharon gets very attentive when the sounder registers 6 feet.  We had 7 feet all the way in, and that was 2 hours after low tide.   As I said, this anchorage had enough room for 1 boat.  The north and south shore were about 250 feet away.  The cove continued to the east for about 500 feet, and to the west was the entrance.  The center was 7 feet, which quickly got skinny to the north and south, and at about  250 feet to the east the 7 foot depth was lost to 2 feet of depth.  So, here we are nicely tucked in our private cove.   We have gone from a 1 mile by 2 mile wide anchorage on the Little Choptank River to a 10 acre hurricane hole. Yes, hurricane hole, there was absolutely no air (breeze) to be had to cool off the boat.  This is a beautiful private cove that would be a great hidey hole from a hurricane, but not on a hot summer night.  So tomorrow it's back to the wide open, not so private, wind blown anchorages that we find cool and comfortable.  

  View of sunset from our not so cool and comfortable anchorage!

    

Wind Blown Anchorages

     Happy 4th of July to all of our families and friends.  We have been "stuck" here on the Little Choptank River for 10 days.  When Sharon and I find an anchorage we like, we tend to overstay our welcome.  Well, nobody is kicking us out, but when we pull the anchor I am sure the barnacles will have taken up residence on our anchor and chain.  Speaking of anchors, it happened again just the other night.  Another boat dragged its anchor.  Sharon and I had been monitoring the weather with internet radar and while being on watch in the pilothouse.  On one of my trips up to the pilothouse to check on the approaching storm, I noticed the only other boat in our anchorage was moving.  I made a comment to Sharon, and she agreed that she thought the other boat was moving.  We watched the boat for a while and decided that it was dragging its hook, and the souls onboard were down below sound asleep.  After watching the boat for what seemed a long time, I decided to sound the danger signal with our ship's horn, 5 blasts of the horn.  We waited a minute but did not see any movement on deck.  Again I sounded the horn 5 times with each blast longer in duration than my first alarm. We doubt they heard the alarm because they were to our stern and our horns project the sound to our bow.  Once again we failed to see any movement on deck.  Next, I tried our roof mounted spotlight thinking they would be alarmed by the light shining on and in the boat.  By the time I got the light trained on the boat we noticed movement on the pulpit and I immediately turned off the spotlight.  Finally, the couple were on deck trying to regain control of their boat before they ran aground.  They saved the boat, pulled up anchor and motored to another anchorage in the dark.  I estimated that they dragged the hook for over 2,000 feet before we saw them on deck.  We like wide open anchorages, and this one is bigger than Comegys Bight on the Chester River.  I guess I now know why anyone seldom anchors with us in these spacious, wind blown anchorages.

"Get Out Of Jail Free Card"

     Yesterday was another first for the crew of Big Run.  After spending another night on San Domingo Creek south of  St. Michael, MD, Sharon and I decided to head over to Cambridge, MD.  About 2 hours into the cruise I looked over to the port side and noticed a United States Coast Guard Vessel 30 feet off of our port beam with its blue lights flashing. It was one of those small 24' RIB with a crew enclosure, enough room to shelter four coasties.  After a nod of the my head to acknowledge them I returned to my duties of piloting the boat knowing very well what their intentions were.  Later I looked over and one the crew was hanging on the side trying to contact us.  I grabbed the microphone of our VHF radio and indicated that they should contact us by radio.  The following is a brief history of the VHF radio transmissions:

       Coast Guard:  Big Run, Big Run this is the United States Coast Guard 22589 on channel 16

       Big Run:  Coast Guard 22589, this is Big Run

       Coast Guard : Big Run, please switch to 22 Alpha

       Big Run:  Coast Guard, this is Big Run, shifting to 22 Alpha

       Big Run:  Coast Guard, this is Big Run on 22 Alpha

       Coast Guard:  Big Run, when was the last time you were boarded?

       Big Run: uh, Never!

      Within 5 minutes, 2 young Coast Guard serviceman were on board Big Run without us having to stop or slow down.  For the next 15 minutes we were given a safety inspection and had our documentation checked.  Needless to say we passed with flying colors.  We were given a "certificate" to show we were boarded and passed our inspection.  We were also informed that the certificate was valid for 6 months to 1 year, just in case we were stopped for another inspection within that time frame, we could use that certificate as a "get out of jail free card".

A Good Night's Sleep

      beep.....beep.....beep.....beep.....beep.... what was that, I didn't set an alarm clock.  I look at the clock.  It's 5:15 a.m.  I lay in bed for another 15 seconds before I decide to get up and investigate.  As I enter the pilothouse I immediately see why there was an alarm this morning.  The raft-up of four sailboats off of our starboard bow has dragged their anchor.   Well, only one boat dragged their anchor, the other three that were tied to that boat came along for the ride.  Now this floating mass  is 150 feet away, and all hands are on deck scurring about like it's a fire drill.  Engines are firing up, lines are being cast off.  Everybody (sailboats) is abandoning the anchor boat so that they don't go aground on the nearby shoreline.  While all the other sailboats make a clean getaway and anchor elsewhere in the cove, the anchor boat of the raft-up stays where he's at. Why not?  The anchor is already out.  But wait.....beep.....beep.....beep.....beep.....beep....there goes the anchor alarm again.  The same boat is dragging the anchor again.  The sailboat's first mate emerges from down below to look around, but where is the captain?  Finally, after what seemed like 5 minutes the "captain" shows his face at the helm, looks around and disappears below again, with the first mate in tow.  As I sit in the pilothouse of our boat prepared to take evasive action, the first mate appears a few minutes later and checks the chartplotter.  Did the alarm sound again? I don't know.  What I do know is that the "captain" of this sailboat (Andiamo of Annapolis, MD) never checked the integrity of the anchor set after having dragged twice.  Never did he start his engines and put the transmission in reverse and pull on his ground tackle to verify the hook was set.  And you call yourself a "captain"! (Note - Andiamo is Italian for "Let's Go" - how appropriate)

     I have always wondered why boats with minimal tackle for the size of the boat believe that they can attach another 2, 3, 4, or more boats in a raft up situation and expect their tackle to hold when the winds kick up.  This is especially true of some  sailboats.  They try to keep their weight to a minimum, especially on the bow while sacrificing one of the most important pieces of equipment on a boat - the anchor and rode.  Power boats are guilty of undersized anchors too, but we don't know what their excuse is for such a small anchors, maybe it's just plain ignorance. The anchor on Big Run is a 66lb. Bruce anchor with 1/2" chain.  I did not set up this arrangement, but I am sure glad we have ground tackle for a 50-60 foot boat on a 42 foot boat.  Next time someone wants to raft up with you, ask yourself  "Do I have the right anchor and rode for a raft up should the winds pick up?"  After all, we all want a good night's sleep.

Update - it's now 6:50 a.m. and the anchor alarm has sounded again - hey Captain, do the right thing!

Chill Out

     There are 2 reasons we have returned to the "north" aka Maryland.  First, because the insurance company requires us to be north of Cape Hatteras by June 1st, the start of hurricane season.  Secondly, we expect to find cooler temps than, let's say, Florida during the summer months.  Last week we experienced a severe heat wave, 3 days in the upper 90's, and we are expecting another heat wave to start today.  Let me be the first to say that the weather gods must be asleep at the helm, enough is enough - chill out.

How Sweet It Is

     When we left the marina on Monday we went to one of our favorite gunkholes, Millstone Point on the west fork of Langford Creek.  Being that it was a holiday weekend, there were 3 boats still on the hook in the area of Millstone Point, but our hole was available - thank you kindly.  One boat, Metagene was there, and it's crewed by our friends Rick and Pam.  It's always a pleasure to see them again.  They hung around for the afternoon and then went south for one last night on the hook at another anchorage before returning home the following day, Tuesday.  By 5 o'clock the other 2 boats had left, and we had the anchorage to ourselves.  Monday was very hot.  Across the bay at Baltimore they had a temperature reading of 99 degrees.  Sharon said the swimming was not very refreshing because the water had to be in the 80's.

       Tuesday we moved the boat to another favorite anchorage that we use when we need to catch a breeze to cool off the boat - Comegys Bight on the Chester River.  Another very hot day and once again Sharon went swimming in waters that were a little cooler than the waters of Langford Creek.  I on the other hand took extra showers to cool off because of a case of bronchitis.  

       Wednesday was our day of truth.  Time to test the new water maker.  We had decided to wait until the Chester River to draw water for the watermaker because Chester has less sediment floating in it. We started the watermaker and ran it to purge the storage chemicals from in the unit.  After 20 minutes we tapped our first glass of "RO" (reverse osmosis) water.  I must admit that first glass was very good.  We ran the watermaker for 4 hours and made about 36 gallons of water - how sweet it is.

Our first glass of home brewed water!

On The Road Again

     It seems like an eternity since our last blog entry.  Since that entry, we have been very busy with more boat work.  Like we don't get enough of that!  One of the major projects was the installation of a watermaker, one of the few jobs that that was actually a pleasure to do - more showers.  When we returned from visiting family and friends in Pennsylvania, we made a trip over to Annapolis, MD before our contract expired for the rental car.  What started as a research trip for watermakers turned into a purchase of a unit.  It has always be said that you do not make water with the brackish water of the Chesapeake Bay because of all the pollutants that can be found in the bay waters.  The manufacturer of our new watermaker closed the deal when they claimed with their system you can make fresh water from the bay.  SOLD!  The unit arrived from California the following Monday and the install was completed that week.  We have yet to start up the unit, we left the marina on Memorial Day with full fresh water tanks.

      We also did work on the Ford Lehman engine and the generator set.  Each unit received new hoses and antifreeze for the cooling systems, and the Ford Lehman engine also received a new heat exchanger ($$$.$$).  We finally moved the Ford Lehman oil filter from its inverted position to a user friendly upright position.  Since 1983, every time someone would change the oil filter it would spill its contents because it was mounted in the wrong orientation!  Our departure from from the marina was put on hold for 2 days because of a severe fuel leak on the generator.  What had a potential for a expensive ($,$$$.$$) new fuel injector pump turned out to be three $.35 o-rings!  Another close one!

     We could go on and on about all the work we did, but that's all part of boating.  Four hard weeks of being on the hard and working everyday made us long for the days of being back on the water.  So now we are ready to resume our adventure - as Willie Nelson would say "On the road again......"